Development of semi-transparent ZnO/FTO solar thermoelectric nanogenerator for energy efficient glazing

摘要

In this work we developed and successfully tested a new design of semi-transparent solar thermoelectric nanogenerator (NG) based on the pulsed electrodeposited array of ZnO nanorods on transparent conducting fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate. An operation of this NG caused by a distinguishable temperature gradient between 1-D ZnO array and uncoated FTO that spontaneously created under heating of ZnO/FTO composition, including under the influence of sunlight. The developed NG combines benefits of low thermal emittance of FTO and ZnO coatings with TE technology for the harvesting of photo-thermal energy of outdoor sunlight by the windows themselves to produce electricity. The network of such NGs can be integrated harmoniously into buildings without affecting the overall aesthetics and serve as a source of electricity sufficiently high to make sensors entirely autonomous in energy by the harvesting solar near-infrared radiation and heat from ambient.